Dominant Performances Give Hens Four Wins at Convergence Tourney

Aided by boisterous Pomona-Pitzer fans all weekend,
the P-P women’s water polo team (9-6, 1-0 SCIAC) was able to sweep their four
games at the annual Convergence Tournament March 6-7. With these four wins, which
were earned in the Hens’ first home series of the season, the team now moves to over
.500 for the first time this year.

The Sagehens started the weekend with an easy defeat of Fresno Pacific University Friday afternoon before fighting off the University of California, San Diego in overtime later that night. On Saturday, the Hens had another doubleheader, and similarly to
Friday, had a thrilling overtime win against George Washington University, then a
night win against California State University, Monterey Bay.

The first game of the tournament proved to be the easiest
for the Sagehens. After narrowly defeating Fresno Pacific last weekend 9-7, the
Hens came out with a different plan of attack this week.

After a slow first half, the Hens led Fresno Pacific by a
score of 3-2. However, the offense kicked in immediately after halftime, with
the Hens scoring the first six goals of the second half. Fresno Pacific scored
just one goal in the second half, and thanks to the Sagehens’ offensive
explosion, P-P cruised to an easy 11-3 victory.

The Friday nightcap against UCSD was a rematch of last year’s NCAA play-in game when the Tritons defeated the Sagehens. Eager for
revenge, the Sagehens played an aggressive and physical game. Trailing 3-1 early on, the Hens were able to tie the game at 6-6 heading into the fourth quarter after goals from attacker Morgan McCracken PO ’18, utility player Alyssa Woodward PZ ’15 and attacker Sarah Westcott PO ’15.

In the fourth, the Hens put up two quick goals,
but the Tritons answered back with a pair of their own. In overtime, the game
remained 8-8 through the first period, before McCracken sent a laser into the
back of the net during a six-on-five possession. Goalkeeper Ahsha Earwood PZ ’17 made a late save for the Hens to seal
the victory.

“We were really happy to beat UCSD, especially
since we lost to them last year, and plan to play them again later this year if
we win SCIAC,” defender Vicky Gyorffy PO ’15 said. “We went into a few more
overtimes than we would have liked this weekend, but coming out with wins is
still always nice.”

The
Hens’ second overtime game of the weekend came on Saturday morning against
George Washington. After taking a 5-3 lead into the final quarter, the
Hens allowed George Washington to put two goals on the board to tie the game up at five. In
overtime, Alving-Trinh and Woodward proved clutch once again, scoring for the
Sagehens and leading the team to a 7-5 victory.

Finally,
P-P faced off against Cal State Monterey Bay for its fourth and final game of
the weekend. The Sagehens played tough defense in the first half, denying CSUMB every opportunity to score, and led 3-0 at halftime. The lead proved to be
all the Sagehens needed, and they cruised to a 10-4 victory as Earwood collected 13
saves.

After a weekend off, the Sagehens will get on a plane to Hawaii for spring break where they will play against some
tough competition, including the University of Southern California and the Brazilian National Team from March 19-21.